US to drop curbs on drone tech to boost arms sales

US officials say American firms are losing sales of armed drones like the MQ-9 Reaper -- seen here on an air base in Afghanistan -- to Chinese "knock-offs" because of the policy of the previous US administration to limit access to the weapons systems

The United States dropped some restrictions Thursday on sales of its advanced drones in order to reinforce the armies of its allies and compete with China on the world arms market.

President Donald Trump's White House announced an update to its policy on arms transfers to promote US exports and jobs, and specifically to loosen the rules on selling unmanned warplanes.

Trump's chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, said the move was designed to reverse former president Barack Obama's "myopic" decision to limit even US allies' access to drone technology.

Allowing US arms firms to directly market drones instead of forcing foreign customers to apply to the government would, he said, allow them to compete against sales of Chinese "knock-offs."

"The administration's UAS export policy will level the playing field by enabling US firms to increase their direct sales to authorized allies and partners," he said, referring to "Unmanned Aerial Systems".

Navarro said US weapons and aerospace exports are worth a trillion dollars a year, support 2.5 million well-paid jobs and form a key plank of Trump's ambition to wipe out America's trade deficit.

But he said the market for drones alone could grow to $50 billion in a decade and that officials are "seeing Chinese replicas of American UAS technology deployed on the runways in the Middle East."

In publishing the new regulations, the White House did not identify any possible new clients for US drones.

But the announcement came shortly after a three-week US tour and arms buying spree by de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose forces lead a coalition supporting Yemen's government against Iran-backed rebels.

The White House has been criticized by both global rights watchdogs and US Congress lawmakers from both parties for allowing its Saudi ally to bomb Yemen, where the coalition has been criticized over civilian casualties.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is already one of the United States' main arms clients, and it is part-way through making good on what Trump dubbed last year in Riyadh a $110 billion deal.